Posts Tagged ‘Maps’

The Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection at the University of Texas has an extensive collection of digitized maps of the world, continents, nations, major cities, and US states (with a sub-collection of Texas maps), ranging from contemporary to historical, thematic to topographic.

Most of the maps scanned by the University of Texas Libraries and served from this web site are in the public domain. No permissions are needed to copy them. You may download them and use them as you wish. We appreciate credit to “University of Texas Libraries” as the source of the scanned images.

A few maps are copyrighted, and are clearly marked as such. Any that are copyrighted by The University of Texas are subject to our Materials Usage Guidelines. The U.S. Government may claim copyright outside of the U.S. for maps such as nautical and aeronautical charts. We recommend that those wanting to republish these maps outside the U.S. should contact their publishers.

A few maps include the official seal of a U.S. Government agency. Federal law prohibits use of these seals in connection with any merchandise, impersonation, solicitation, or commercial activity in a manner reasonably calculated to convey the impression that such use is approved, endorsed, or authorized by the agency.

We do appreciate hearing from you about your uses of these materials and we would also appreciate your giving this site credit when it is referred to in anything you publish. Other sites may link to our site or to individual maps without our permission.

Other map-related web sites we link to are frequently protected by copyright. Contact them for information about their usage policies.

Please Note: Maps on other web sites which we link to are subject to the copyright restrictions of those sites. Please contact them for their copyright information. If you are uncertain whether a particular map is on our site or another site look at the url. If, when viewing the map, it begins with “www.lib.utexas.edu” then it is on our server.

For today’s post, I’ve selected some of the more unusual maps. Use the titles to find the image pages for downloading or zooming in on details.

The first two are from “Illustrations of Japan consisting of private memoirs and anecdotes of the reigning dynasty of the Djogouns, or sovereigns of Japan…” by Isaac Titsingh, London: R. Ackermann, 1822, and are in the Asia Historical Maps category.

Japan – “Earthquake and Eruption of the Mountain of Asama-yama, in the province of Sinano.”

Japan – “The Chinese Factory in the Street of Teng-chan at Nagasaki, founded in 1688.” [Note: During the period of Japanese seclusion, the Chinese, like the Dutch, were allowed to reside and trade in a restricted area in Nagasaki.]

Also in Asia Historical Maps is this one from “Cho-Khang, The Grand Temple of Buddha at Lhasa” from Journey to Lhasa and Central Tibet by Sarat Chandra Das, 1902.

[Tibet] Grand Temple at Lhasa 1902

The next two are from Middle East Historical Maps, and although both are of Babylon, they hardly seem to be maps of the same places. The first appeared in Travels in Chaldaea, including a journey from Bussorah to Bagdad, Hillah, and Babylon, performed on foot in 1827, published by Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, London, 1829. I like the descriptive bits, like, “The whole ground exhibits irregular hillocks and mounds.”

From Iraq and the Persian Gulf, Great Britain. Naval Intelligence Division, 1944.

The Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Digital Library isn’t all about polar bears and Alaska, but since polar bear is one of the search terms by way of which people land on this blog, and because it is just too hot these days, I decided that selections from its Arctic jpg’s would make a good introduction to the FWS as a source for public domain images.

But what we need to get our bearings is a map. Here’s one, an 1897 map from the Library of Congress entitled Millroy’s Map of Alaska and the Klondyke Gold Fields. If you visit the site, you can use the zoom feature.

If you look right below the tip of Siberia as it reaches into the Bering Strait, close to the Alaska-Russia border, you’ll see the island of St. Lawrence. This area is where Ellizabeth Labunski took the picture of the polar bear above. Elsewhere (?) in the Bering Sea she photographed the seals on which they prey, and another huge carnivore of the Arctic, the walrus, for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The first is a ribbon seal; the other, a bearded seal. These walruses also live in northern Bering Sea.

Head north in the Bering Sea and you reach the setting for a few other FWS pictures of polar bears, Cape Lisburne. On the map, if you look directly across from the word Strait, there’s a peninsula, and at its tip is Cape Lisburne, where Gerry Atwell photographed these polar bears:

In many, maybe most, cases the descriptive information accompanying the FWS images is good. But in others, it is frustrating. Ellizabeth Labunski’s polar bear pictures identify their situation as 40 miles southwest of St. Lawrence Island, but the walruses and seals are far more vaguely documented as found somewhere in the northern Bering Sea. And consider this shot of two polar bear cubs. There is no indication of where the photo was taken, and the photographer is not credited.

I’m sure you’ve noticed by now a lot of ice in these pictures. The FWS categorizes polar bears as marine mammals. They have their young on land, but follow the drifting ice to hunt. As the ice in the Arctic decreases, their survival prospects diminish.

Look below for some sites I came across to learn more about polar bears.

→ → → → → → → → → →

Departing from public domain materials:

The following are either certainly or perhaps copyright-protected — that is, not public domain.

US Geological Survey: a blog , Arctic Chronicles, has a posting with video of a polar bears taken during a 2008 expedition to map the Arctic seafloor. Although this video was shot by a government employee, I’m not certain if it is public domain or if the copyright is held by their creator, Jessica Robertson, Public Affairs Specialist for the U.S. Geological Survey.

Ever wonder what would happen if a walrus and polar bear battled to the death? Then check these videos out (note: Videos arenotin the public domain). Polar Conservation has video of an actual battle. Much blood is involved. For a different outcome, head over to Animal Planet and watch its virtual battle.